Friday, June 3, 2011

The daughter of a mob murder victim said she is "very disappointed" that former Bonanno crime boss Vincent Basciano got life in prison instead of the death penalty for ordering the murder of her father.
Connie Pizzolo said a second life sentence on top of the life sentence Basciano was already serving for another murder isn't much punishment.
"To me, it degrades the value of life," Pizzolo told the Daily News. "It's a bit insulting."
"A death sentence, to me, would be the only answer," she added.
Not a single juror voted for the death penalty despite the prosecutors' arguments that Basciano also was responsible for two uncharged murders and at least nine solicitations to kill gangsters and members of their family.
Basciano, 51, will serve the sentence at the "supermax" federal prison in Florence, Colo., where the most dangerous inmates in the federal penal system are warehoused.
"That man's fate is in God's hands now," Pizzolo said. "I'm just really happy this is all over and I can start healing all over again."
Members of the anonymous jury informed federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis that they did not wish to discuss their decision with the media.